What is thy Bidding, my Master?

By Joey Leake

By now you undoubtedly know that Rogues and Scoundrels is the “neutral set”. The question is, how will this set’s focus on neutral units affect the game? Since I know you’re anxious for the spoilers, here’s a card to kick off the discussion: Boba Fett (G).

Boba Fett (G) is a good place to start looking at what kind of impact neutrality is going to have on the game. He’s one of the reasons contesting units is about to go from a quirky little game mechanic to something you may very well consider every time you build a deck. My first reaction when I saw this card was, “Whoa, everyone’s going to be playing with this guy!” I mean, look at those stats! Boba Fett (G)’s tied for fastest base Character in the game. He has reasonable power, reasonable health, Armor to keep him alive—and a bounty that can be used to completely mitigate his relatively minor Upkeep! Oh yeah, did I mention that he makes your opponent lose one Force for every damage he does?

When you consider that in the context of contesting an opposing Boba Fett, the ramifications instantly become clear. You really want to win that first bidding war! If you’re able to contest your opponent’s Boba Fett out of the arena, you set yourself up nicely to score a few hits, drain a little Force, and make it that much harder for your opponent to ever get enough of an edge to send your own Boba packing. This makes early Force control more important than it’s ever been in this game. Expect decks running the Boba stack to pack such cards as Capture Obi-Wan or Seek the Council's Wisdom in order to give them that early edge in the bidding.

Since we’re talking about contesting units, wouldn’t it be nice if the Dark Side could get back at the Light Side for Slave I now being contestable? I mean, the Dark Side already has one neutral Millennium Falcon, but a second one would really help even the score, right? Say hello to the Millennium Falcon (I)! Sure, it’s a little pricey for what it does, but the higher build cost means it’s going to be that much harder for your opponent to contest. Oh, right, there is the small matter of its drawback. It is possible to just use it as an underlay for the Falcon (C), but sometimes you just want the bigger unit on top. As a Dark Side player, the only Wookiee pilot you have at your disposal is Chewbacca (C). However, with a large portion of Light Side decks taking advantage of the new versions of Chewbacca that have popped up in recent sets, it’s likely that you won’t be able to keep the (C) version for any extended amount of time.

So, what you really need is a good smuggler that can pilot a transport. Han Solo? Nope, all versions that can pilot transports are Light Side units. Lando? Nope, he’s neutral, but he’s also no pilot.

Is there no one willing to fly the Falcon for the Dark Side?

Dash Rendar (A) is up to the task! Not only does he turn your Falcon into a killing machine, bumping it up to Accuracy 2 and giving it “Pay 0 Force Evade 1”, but he’s also a solid unit all by himself. Whether he’s piloting a transport or speeder, or just slugging it out in the Character arena, Dash is one well-rounded unit. Keep in mind that Dash is also unique, so you can’t always expect him to remain uncontested, but he’s definitely a safer bet than Chewbacca.

Finally, I’ll wrap this up with one more spoiler. What would Dash rather be flying than the Falcon? That’s right, the Outrider (A)! The Outrider is just one in a long line of Rogues and Scoundrels’ tournament-quality neutral unique Space units. Contesting has officially ventured out of the Character arena, and is now a factor in Space!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into Rogues and Scoundrels, and how it’s likely to affect the metagame of contestable units. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email them to Krypt0s@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for reading!